Casey Deidrick
Actor and musician Casey Deidrick rose to fame playing Chad DiMera on "Days of Our Lives" (NBC, 1965-) before landing lead roles in teen thriller "Eye Candy" (MTV, 2015) and TV movie "Advance and Retreat" (2016). Born in Santa Clara, CA, Deidrick's first main passion was skateboarding, but shortly after competing in the Vans World Amateur Competition in 2004, an accident which left him with severe concussion inspired him to give up the sport and pursue a career in acting instead. Deidrick studied Theater for a year at Denver's Metropolitan State College before relocating to Los Angeles where he landed his first role, a guest spot on Beverly Hills teen drama "90210" (The CW, 2008-2013). Following a one-off appearance on kids sitcom "Wizards of Waverly Place" (Disney Channel, 2007-2012), Deidrick starred in and executive produced "Settle" (2009), a romantic short exploring various alternate realities. But his big break arrived later that same year when he was cast as Mia's troubled ex-boyfriend Chad DiMera on soap opera institution "Days of Our Lives" (NBC, 1965-). Deidrick's stint on the show was only supposed to be short-lived, but the character proved to be so popular that producers soon introduced his entire family into the fold, and by the time he finally left the soap in 2013 he'd appeared in over 850 episodes. During his time on the show Deidrick also guested on musical phenomenon "Glee" (Fox, 2009-2015), medical dramedy "Body of Proof" (ABC, 2011-13) and post-apocalyptic sci-fi "Revolution" (NBC, 2012-14), and formed a metal band with soap co-star Chandler Massey named And Still I Rise in which he served as the "unclean" vocalist (a reference to vocal style, not hygiene). In 2014, the group released their debut E.P., Orchard Road, while a year later Deidrick bagged the leading male role of NYPD detective Tommy Calligan in teen thriller "Eye Candy" (MTV, 2015). Deidrick then made a brief appearance in Sunset Strip tale "American Satan" (2016) and starred opposite Riley Voelkel in romantic TV movie "Advance and Retreat" (2016).